Chris Lowney is the author of the book “Heroic Leadership.” In it, he shines a new light on Ignatius of Loyola, a big thinker who lived 5 centuries ago. Chris was a Jesuit seminarian for 7 years; during that time he attended Fordham University where he earned a Phi Beta Kappa key and degrees in economics and philosophy. He left the Jesuits prior to ordination and joined J. P. Morgan & Company where he worked for 17 years as an …
It’s winter in the Midwest; the weather’s turned cold. Most nights, there’s a fire in our living room fireplace. There’s an Irish (Gaelic) saying about fireplaces that I love:
Nil aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin.
It translates, “There is no fireplace like your own fireplace.” For me, there’s no cozier place than sitting in my big Stickley rocker in front of a roaring fire in our own fireplace. It’s the focal point of the living …
My sister-in-law tipped me off to a book titled “Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure.” The author is Larry Smith; his book shares the stories of hundreds of lives summarized in just six words. Since I believe that self-awareness is a cornerstone of leadership, I challenged the members of all three of my Vistage groups to write their six-word memoir and share it with their fellow members. It was great fun and my …
Last Friday night, I watched Ball State University get pummeled by the University of Buffalo in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship football game. Ball State entered the game unbeaten and heavily favored. At points during the season, sportswriters were arguing about whether or not “mid-major” football programs like Ball State were the real deal and worthy of consideration for a BCS Bowl berth.
I’m a graduate of a MAC school; I followed the Ball State this season and cheered for them. …
Thanksgiving weekend is the time when Indiana crowns its state high school football champions. Teams play in five classes determined by student enrollment; five champions are crowned. Though they represent less than 12% of the 409 Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) member schools, half the teams playing in this year’s championship games were private schools.
The success of private schools is being called “a problem” by the executive director of the IHSAA. In 2006, a proposal to count each private …
I was quoted on the front page of the sport section of The New York Times in 1988; I thought it was so cool to see my name in print in the Gray Lady. Two of my fellow Vistage Chairs were quoted in an article in the Dec 3 edition of The Times. This was a serious article discussing group dynamics in the work place; my hat’s off to them for their contributions; here’s a link to the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/fashion/04roles.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
One …
I read an article recently that said “Hollywood insiders” and environmentalists were meeting to discuss how “story telling in film and TV can communicate issues about climate change to the public.” I’ve always wondered if the public is really more inclined to embrace a cause just because a celebrity embraces it. I’ve also wondered how celebrities come to back a cause; do they think critically before deciding, or do they follow the celebrity crowd or the recommendation of their agents. …